The displaced, deferred or was it abandoned middle? Another look at the idiographic-nomothetic distinction in the German social sciences
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Publication Date
1997
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journal article
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Strohmayer, Ulf. (1997). The displaced, deferred or was it abandoned middle? Another look at the idiographic-nomothetic distinction in the German social sciences. Review, (Fernand Braudel Center), 20(3/4), 279–344.
Abstract
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This essay reexamines key debates within the German social and human sciences. The "Methodenstreit" of 1883, the "Werturteilsstreit" of 1909-12 and the "Positivismusstreit" of 1961-63 are studied in turn as ongoing attempts at redefining a middle ground within a continuum of epistemological positions stretching from idiographic to nomothetic convictions. The writings of Gustav von Schmoller, Max Weber, and Theodor W. Adorno are presented as efforts at constructing such epistemologically coherent middle positions. In its concluding section, the essay probes into the more recent "Historikerstreit" of 1986-88 to demonstrate to what degree even contemporary and explicitly nontheoretical disputes are still haunted by problems left unsolved in the above debates.
This essay reexamines key debates within the German social and human sciences. The "Methodenstreit" of 1883, the "Werturteilsstreit" of 1909-12 and the "Positivismusstreit" of 1961-63 are studied in turn as ongoing attempts at redefining a middle ground within a continuum of epistemological positions stretching from idiographic to nomothetic convictions. The writings of Gustav von Schmoller, Max Weber, and Theodor W. Adorno are presented as efforts at constructing such epistemologically coherent middle positions. In its concluding section, the essay probes into the more recent "Historikerstreit" of 1986-88 to demonstrate to what degree even contemporary and explicitly nontheoretical disputes are still haunted by problems left unsolved in the above debates.
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Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International